Chase's bumping minimum payment to 5% of balance from 2% of balance is a direct result of point 4, "Payments must be applied to your highest interest rate if you have multiple open accounts." Look, I agreed to payments going to lower interest first. This point is anti-consumer here as Chase has increased the minimum high enough that it negates the new rule. This is equivalent to your bank converting your 5 year note to purchase a car into a 2 year note! That would not be tolerated. This reminds me of what seemed like a tough anti-smoking rule in Wisconsin 25 years ago. The new law said that smoking would be prohibited in restaurants except in designated smoking areas. Sound like you could expect to find a no smoking area in any restaurants, right? Nope, the restaurants just designated the entire restaurant as a smoking area! Well, that is what we have here, the minimum is raised high enough that none of you payment will be applied to higher interest lines.

I have had a credit card with another company for many years. Unexpectedly, they raised my interest rate to 27.99%. I do my banking with Chase. I was at the branch and I asked them what their rates were. The Asst Manager siad she would find out for me. She told me that the bank would give me a card at a high rate with a vary limited credit limit. I told her I wasn't interested. Little did I know, that to get that information, she was signing me up for a new credit card. She never disclosed this and I would have never agreed if I knew this. The Chase employee opened a credit card, transferred some of the balance from my other card and charged a transfer fee without me knowing or giving permission. I believe this is fraudulent. Im trying to replace my original card, but now have a new credit card on my credit reports, that I had to close. This will hinder my ability to get another card.

I spoke to the manager and al she was interested in doing is getting me to keep the card. Her apologetic voice was taited with a hard sales pitch.

My opinion is that Chase and their employees act in a fraudulent and dishonest manner.

Please be careful in doing business with them, especially in their credit card area.

Chase is in the process of moving accounts from WAMU to Chase, first with the credit cards and this month with checking accounts. This week we found out that Chase closed one of the old WAMU cards because of poor credit history (only one negative mark - a utility collection from 9 years ago for $150). They reduced the available balance on another one of our cards by 25%, just above our current balance. I know that I should be paying the balances off each month but feel like Chase doesn't care about any of their customers. My short term solution until I pay off the balance is to pay $2.00 every three days. I might even be willing to stop in the branch to express my outrage by paying $2.00 payments every day (wonder how quickly it would take someone to ban me from the branch?).

Here's another reason to never do business with Chase Bank.
I paid my June payment a couple of days early. They posted it to my May statement, then charged a late fee for June, and rescinded the promotional rate that I had on the card!!
When I complained, the nice young man with the hard to understand accent told me that he would credit my account for the late fee, but the bank has a policy of changing interest rates when payments don't fall between the 7th and the 26th of the month. I reminded him that the payment was early, not late!!
Too bad. The supervisor agreed. Said she would apply for reinstatement of my promotional rate of 3.99%, but not to hold my breath.
That is after they hit me with a 5% balance payment!!
I will somehow pay it off, but will never, ever do business with them again, not if they are the last bank on earth. I am going to stick to our local credit union.

If Karma does exist, and I believe it does, Chase Bank will fail. That being said customers like myself who pay their bills on time will end up picking up the tab. Chase's decision to change the way the minimum payment is determined from 2% of the ending balance to 5% of the ending balance is in my opinion a horrible business decision. After writing a letter to Chase to dispute the change I received an automated letter in return explaining to me the change would be beneficial for me. The reasoning is that at first it may be more difficult to make my minimum payment but they are helping me to pay my balance down quicker. Please join me in a boycott against Chase and all of their financial products.

I have perfect credit, high limits and pay ALL of my bills on time. Like others Chase Bank has raised my minimum payment from 2% to5% of my balance. That takes my minimum from a manageable $250.00 a month to an unmanageable $623.00 a month. All of my balance is at a low lifetime rate. I am currently out of a job and living off of savings. I called Chase and got to a supervisor who told me there was nothing they could do. He suggested I call their “Pro Active Solution Team” and they would work out a payment schedule I could afford. However! They would cancel my card and report that AND that I am on a repayment schedule to the credit bureaus. Thereby staining my perfect credit. So – in effect they are forcing me into either default which ruins my credit or their crappy repayment schedule which stains my credit. Either way I’m screwed! And now for the kicker – It turns out that our government, who is so looking out for our interest, was concerned that too many people were making the minimum payments and thereby stretching the terms out so long that that they would pay thousands in interest has forced the credit card companies to raise the minimums.
So let me get this straight. My tax dollars bail out the banks which they use to redecorate their offices and now no longer want and wish to pay back to the government who won’t let them pay it back, the same government that started this whole downturn by forcing Fanny and Freddie to give loans to people who should never have had them and then because they are so concerned about our welfare force the banks to raise the percentage on the minimums ( which smart people use when times are tough and pay more when times are good) and now I can’t get a job because of THEIR decisions and I can’t manage my finances because of THEIR decisions and my credit is about to be stained because of THEIR decisions WHAT THE HECK!!! They have helped this American just about all I can stand. I have a mind to just declare bankruptcy and to hell with all of them – big brother too! Together – the greedy banks and the incompetent, meddling government has ruined me!

I DO NOT BELIEVE THAT THIS IS A LAW THAT WILL BENEFIT THE CONSUMER AS ALL THE HYPE IS SAYING!

I have several low interset for life balance transfer agreements with Chase. I am always on time with my payments. Got a letter they were going to increase my minimum payment from 2% to 5%of balance, almost $500 MORE per month. Can they do that legally? If they can't screw you on the rate, they try to screw you on the minimum payment...BASTARDS!!!

cash is King!!!

You think this is bad. Wait until you see how the ripple effect will hit the businesses who accept your credit cards for payment. When the banks start getting squeezed, they just increase the rates that it cost Businesses to accept credit cards and the Business ends up raising the price of their goods and services to the consumer.

I have two cards with Capital One, both with no balance for the past few months. One had its rate increased by about 10%, the other, whose rate I asked to be decreased a few months ago, remained the same.

OTOH, a Chase card that I use for gas has sent me a letter DECREASING the rate by 1%.

All this happened on the week leading to the great deed of our legislators.

Clark, I have to disagree with you on this one. I think this new credit card legislation is a huge disaster for the American people. With any government legislation into the marketplace, there are bound to be unforseen latent consequences. Already, we are seeing the effects of this legislation, in the form of credit companies raising rates to people already at the margins. Even with the rules that require notification, there is little to stop the cards from usury here. The people who will suffer are those at the margins--the same people the government claims to want to help. I think you need to do some more homework on this one.

what about when you are 50 dollars below the limit and you are two days late... they put a 39 dollar late fee then a 39 dollar membership fee and a 39 dollar over limit fee... all this on a 500 dollar card... is this legal? sure it is... the government says so

"People who don't keep their promises to pay on time at agreed upon terms deserve the ramifications of their choices."

Listen. I am a highly paid professional who financed his start up with a credit card offered by a professional association. The deal was, no interest for a year, then capped at 11%.

I have never missed a payment. I routinely make double payments. That did not stop Bank of America from raising my rate to 29.9%, When I called and asked why, they told me "our industry is in trouble."

Big deal. We are all in trouble. And since they did the rate raise dance, other cards I have (with really small balances, thankfully), are doing the same.

I never paid late. I always paid at least twice the amount due, sometimes way more than that. This is how they treat me and you, sir, still believe this is my fault?

Ha ha ha ha ha, boy, do YOU have a lot to learn...

My card has 0% interste and always will. I don't have one and never will. You do not need a CC and why do people do business with companies (big banks) that rip them off.

Hey Everyone! Join a credit union... My MasterCard started at 9.9% 10 years ago, and 2 years ago, they LOWERED it to 8.9% without me asking. I carry an ave. $2500 balance and have never had a late payment...

Many people pay their card in full each month. I personally charge all my everyday expenses with my no fee, cash rebate cards. I know that they wish I would pay them interest, but I don't. They are still making good money on my transactions. If the CC issuers charge a fee or eliminate rebates to maintain their profit margins, then many folks will simply drop their card (I certainlly will). These customers have a higher repayment ratio than those who are running balances. This will probably result in a higher ratio of late and defaulted payments, thus worsening the financial status of the issuers (big banks). Since they can't pass these losses onto the current holders due to restrictions of the new law, they will do the next best thing (more bailout money at the expense of the taxpayers). So, the unintended result could be more taxpayer money for our friends at the big banks.

Some people are not getting the point regarding teen credit card offers. When I turned 18, I was offered several cards of several hundred to $2,500 dollars! Guess what? I had NO job or could any way pay for a credit card if I ran up a bill.

These credit card companies lure kids into signing up for credit cards for a free frisbee or $5 meal on college campuses. It's sick!

Later when I had a JOB, it was funny how no one wanted to offer me a regular credit card because I had no credit history. Yet as an 18 yr old,
it seems like CC companies didn't know the meaning of no credit history and no job!

So, wait?

You mean teens will have to be required to actually have a JOB or income that proves they can pay off a card like every other adult?

No... that's stupid!

Or I guess it just sounds too close to common sense! If you want a card or a car, either you prove you can pay for it like an adult or have mom and
dad co-sign.

Just a quick update. This new law has already had an effect on me. My Business CC was closed due to the new law and I amnow facing a credit crunch. Its going to get tougher for small businesses like myself to get credit. Way to go Congress, this is the unintended consiquences of their actions.

I'm reading some of the posts here and I'm not sure that some of the people that claim there in the "good credit or responsible group" really get the big picture of this. As usually, everyone is only interested in how something impacts them personally, independent of whats going on out there in the World

First, all this nonsense about well credit card holders signed an agreement that said "rates could be increased at our discreation" so, therefore they got what they "deserved" and it's okay for CC interest rates to be increased to 35-40% RETRO ACTIVELY. How self centered can you get (and no I'm no bleeding heart liberal looking for the Government to take care of us) Right is Right and wrong is wrong - "Common Sense"

As a previous post stated, if this law isn't signed into law immediately, all this is going to do is increase the default rate on CC balances. There's 4 Trillion dollars in unsecured credit card debt out there. What's going to happen if a third of the people default on their debt simply because credit card companies are Loan Sharking (don't you think someone with a $20K balance wil walk away from it when the banks try to charge them 35% on previously charged merchandise) I'll tell you what will happen, Great Depression II (if we're not already there). And all I read is about the "responsible credit users" worried about losing some airline miles and having to pay a small fee to use a card. Great crash the stinking economy all together with this short sited thinking. Remember, it was the credit card industry that deceided to move their mailing addresses to the (6) six states that don't have any Usuary Laws. Why do you think that might be? The average Usuary Law interest rate for the remaining States that have Usuary Law is a maximum of 10.5% By moving to the states that don't have laws stoping this type of abuse means they can get another 25% on the debt. Why do you think those six states don't have Usuary Laws?? It's so they can woo the CC Companies to move to their states. The whole rotten thing is a scam and banking has to be stopped! Otherwise they will destroy what's left of the economy because of their greed.
Sorry you might have to lose some of your airline miles, other people are losing everything they worked their entire lifes for and IT"S NOT because they were "irresponsible" Washington and the banking industry what you to beleive this economic crash was cause by the "irresponsible" consumers out there. You know what? It's not true, it's all smoke and mirrors to keep the eyes off of them. It was there fault. And we still had to bail them out.

What should've been done is what Senator Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent, wanted to pass - capping credit card companies' interest rates at 15%. This was rejected by the Senate May 13.

So, some people out there need to keep saying "hello" to 30%-40% annual interest rates.

Clark, we may have won the battle with the recent credit card reform act, but the credit card companies have still won the war - and they kicked our butts!

I agree, this administration is actually doing something where the Republicans only gave us lip-service. This bill contains good consumer protection and the first federal gun law that may actually protect us. The only other gun law that has been proven to reduce crime was passed in Kennesaw, Georgia. It required every homeowner to own and maintain a gun.

We still have international transaction fees on credit card purchases of 4% - a monsterous number and well known to be funding the profits of the card issuers. I guess the triple-chinned lobbyist targets skipped that one.

Another example of government stepping in and imposing laws and regulations on business. In the end, we - the consumer - will pay. Credit card companies will make their money - it's what they're in business to do.

The thought I've had that I have heard no one address yet has to do with the interest rates. Sure, they can't raise the rate on an EXISTING customer without notice, etc. Think of it this way... CC Co. #1 that you are a long-term customer of decides to impose a $100/year fee to carry their card. You want to cancel because this is not what you signed up for. You start checking around but all the CC Co.'s that don't have annual fees have decided to charge NEW customers 20% interest up front. There is nothing stopping them from starting high, AND they can still increase the rate every 45 days. Now you are stuck with either paying the annual fee or changing to a higher interest rate. Lose/Lose Situation all the way around. The only solution I see - Live within your means (whatever that currently is), don't charge more than you can pay off each month, fire the annual fee card, and go with the higher rate card or use cash only!

"It will be illegal for a bank to let a transaction run when they know you'll go over your limit -- unless you give them written permission to do so."

Does anyone know, will this apply to bank cards attached to checking or savings accounts as well?

I finally decided to unload 4 of the cards I carry and put them into a baggie filled with water and stuck it in the freezer. I feel like I'm having withdrawals(!), but in the final analysis, I know I will be much better off. Wish me luck!

I having a hard time figuring out peoples position, because it seems like people who don't carry a balance on their CC catagories themselves as "financial responsible" and those that carry a balance as "financially irresponsible" That paints with a pretty broad brush. All people (probably the majority) that carry a balance aren't "irresponsible" If you carry a balance and payoff your debt and our never late or default, how is it that they are "irresponsible"? Yes, not carrying a balance is certainly a lot better than carrying one, but, for everyone who is carrying one, there is a different reason for each person. The media, Washington and Wall Street want you to believe that everyone who is in debt is there because they ran out an charged big screen TV's and a bunch of other things. While that might be true in some cases, it certainly isn't in all. Remember a lot of people have lost their jobs or found new ones at less pay, If you were making a 100K and year and lost your job and are now making $75K, you can only adjust your life style to what your making now. In the past if this happen you would simply sell your house and reduce your overhead. You can't do that any more. So a lot of people that were not planning to carry a balance have. It doesn't make them financiallly "irresponsible" THEIR PAYING THEIR BILLS!!! This law simply is putting a stop to banks going back and retro actively increase interest rates from 7% to 35% Which will not only hurt the people in debt but the general enconoy. Just because banks are "saber rattling" that there going to charge annual fees everyone is all bent out of shape. If the banks continue with the loan sharking, even you so called "financial responsible" are going to suffer. Unless your a multi millionaire, you aren't going to have enough money when the hyper inflaction hits.

I doubt credit card companies will be able to across the board either eliminate interest rate grace periods or institute annual credit card fees for people who pay their balances in full.
To do so would be economic suicide for them. Remember, the card companies still get 2-3% in merchant fees on every transaction. Since people who pay their balances in full be definition present zero default risk, that should provide a reasonable rate of return for the card companies.
What will happen, and I believe is a good thing is that since credit card companies will be reigned in on their shenanigans on those who carry balances, the card companies will cut credit limits, be more selective in who they give cards to and more closely monitor current customers who carry balances for signs of economic distress. That is a good thing. For way to long the credit card companies did just the exact opposite and encouraged reckless financial behavior. Hopefully that might change, at least somewhat.

Only problem with firing your credit card company is a hit to your credit score. Closing a line of credit hurts you. And depending on how old that line of credit is it can hurt you even more. Those who are looking to borrow in the future can be hurt by this move. Otherwise I'd agree with you Buzz.

I agree with Buzz; if you don't like the terms of your CC contract, you're free to close the account at any time. This was a solution in search of a problem; another feel-good gesture that burdens the lending industry and punishes consumers who borrow responsibly.

Some banks have said they will begin charging more junk fees for their service to make up for lost revenue. I guess they've figured out just how weak-willed the American Consumer really is. Most will put up with it. People like me will probably just close their accounts and do without. I wish everyone here were willing to do this.

Ed has a valid point. Let me address the parts Clark mentions:
I think the first 3 are OK. Not sure it should be illegal for a bank to run a transaction that goes over the limit. That's not their problem. Also Teenagers shouldn't be off limits. They should be smart. Don't take away their rights.

I'm all for credit card companies making $$ off of people who are irresponsible. That's fair. People aren't irresponsible by birth, they are by choice. However I think that credit card companies have stepped over the boundaries of sliminess by changing rates on existing balance and finding creative (euphemism) ways to make sure they snake a little extra out of those in debt. That type of thing is what this bill was intended to stop.